The Parable of the Sower
by Miss. Poppy May
Summary: Set during the phone call scene in Son of Neptune. Piper learns that there's way more to the story than she ever imagined.


**So, this is my attempt at writing the phone call scene. I'm probably going to redo, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this version. Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, like everyhting I do it's unbeta'd and written spur of the moment. Seriously, I don't even reread my work after I write it. **

**Disclaimer: Rick owns everything but his last name; he has to share that with me. **

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Piper was carrying a picnic basket full of food towards Bunker Nine for Leo and his cabin mates. They had been working their butts off since they first started in December and Piper thought that they could use a quick break. Unfortunately, Annabeth and a handful of others didn't think the same. Annabeth was constantly on cabin nine, yelling at them and throwing fits. The only moments of peace they had were when Annabeth mysteriously left camp for a day or two. As time went one, her trips became a little more frequent and Piper was starting to get a little mad. Sure, she understood Annabeth's situation and, in the beginning, had been very sympathetic. Her boyfriend was missing and that was bound to stress someone out, but that didn't mean that Annabeth had the right to basically torture everyone else when she was leaving camp for little mini vacations every two weeks or so. Piper was sick of her, and wanted to say something, but couldn't. She was too afraid of Annabeth, for one thing, and for another, Annabeth wasn't the only one on edge. Percy's whole group of friends weren't too happy and were finding ways to show it. Piper just wanted this ship to be built so that they could leave and find Percy. Only he could make the camp go back to normal.

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"Hey guys, what's up?" Piper asked, setting the basket down on a nearby rock. She had finally found Leo, his cabin mates, and a random assortment of demi gods by the beach working on the ship. As soon as she spoke, everyone froze. Leo whipped around and fell to his knees.

"I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" he cried, clasping his hands together.

"Um, Leo, what on earth are you going on about?" She asked and Leo's head popped up, a relived expression on his face.

"Oh good, it's you. I thought you were Annabeth." He turned back towards the building crew and shouted, "guys! It's just Piper, we're safe!" She heard collective mutterings and sighs of relief as everyone got back to work. Leo stood up and brushed sand off his kneecaps. He gave Piper and impish smile and leaned against a rock.

"So Pipes, what brings you here? Did you finally realize that you and I were meant to be?" He said, batting his eyelashes in a sweet manner.

"No," Piper grumbled. "What was that little stunt a few minutes ago?" Leo's cheeks turned pink.

"Stunt? What Stunt? I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about." Leo said nonchalantly, looking everywhere but at Piper.

"Oh, you know, the one were you fell to your knees begging Annabeth to save your life?" Leo slapped his forehead.

"Oh! You mean that stunt! Yeah, you see, It's actually really funny. I mean it's so funny, even Jason would laugh."

"Really?"

"Really."

"So, what happened repair boy?" He scowled.

"The engine wasn't the right make and model, so we have to go and get a new one. Which delays final inspection two days." Piper winced, knowing what that meant.

"Annabeth is going to freak when she finds out. Sorry Leo. You're going to die without ever finding a girl who will put up with you long enough to date you." Leo shook his head.

"That's not the worst part. The worst part is that the engine we need is rare. And expensive. Not even my cabin has it and the only way we can get it is if we get it from this older demi god in Manhattan."

"Why does the ship even need an engine? Won't it be worked by manpower?" Leo sighed.

"I wish. We need the engine as a backup. And to do other stuff that I won't get into because you are a daughter of Aphrodite and won't be able to understand." Piper punched Leo's arm.

"Yeah, well, this daughter of Aphrodite is taking the lunch she made for everyone and giving it to Nyssa with strict orders no to share with a certain Mr. Spock."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Leo shouted, pushing off the rock. "If Festus still had a body, you wouldn't dare mess with me!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now come with me. We have to grab Jason and then go talk to Chiron about going to get that engine."

"Do we have to get Jason?" Leo whined, and Piper glared at him. "I'll take that as a yes," Leo muttered, and followed her to Zeus' cabin in search of the air prince.

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The three demi gods stood in front of Chiron, hopeful expressions on their face. He gave them a fond smile.

"Children, you act like I'm going to say no. If you need to get this engine, then you have permission to get it. My only request," he said, and Piper somehow knew that it was more of an order, "is that you stay with Annabeth." They looked at him in shock.

"Annabeth's coming with us?" Leo spluttered, his fingers starting to steam. Jason gave them a weary look and side stepped away from Leo.

"No, on the contrary, you guys are going with her. She was going to Manhattan today, so it works that you are too. Now, a quick warning, she may not be happy that you are tagging along and may try to ditch you at some point if you let her. Don't. Safety in numbers, children. Especially in these troubled times." And with that he sent them off towards their doom.

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Jason, Piper, and Leo, walked a safe distance behind Annabeth. She had already blown up on them several times, and they sure didn't want a repeat performance. The daughter of Athena was not at all happy that they were coming along in the first place, and got steadily angrier throughout the day. First, it was because the ship was delayed, then it was because they were stuck bargaining for the engine for hours. Annabeth was now made that she was late and that she had to drag the three musketeers with her. Piper didn't know about Jason and Leo, but she knew that if Annabeth glared at them one more time, she was leaving, no matter what Chiron said. Slowly, the neighborhood around them went from stuffy upper class to lower middle class. They stopped in front a brick building with a green awning. Annabeth turned around abruptly, causing Piper and Jason to slam into her and Leo Into them. Surprisingly, they stayed upright.

"Okay, so we are about to enter a very delicate situation. Under no circumstances are you allowed to be rude, mean, obnoxious, or inconsiderate, do you understand me?" They all looked at Leo.

"What are you looking at me for? I'm Mr. Sensitive," he defended and Annabeth sighed.

"Now I get why Thalia joined the hunt," she muttered and led everyone inside.

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After a quick chat we the doorman, the group took the elevator up to the seventh floor a walked until they got to 4D. Before they could even knock, the door swung open to reveal a woman in her thirties with brown hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. She was wearing what looked like a uniform, a starry blue skirt and a red and white stripped blouse. The second she saw Annabeth she smiled and pulled her in for a hug.

"Annabeth, dear! I've been so worried! When you were late I thought that something happened to you, I was just about to message Chiron and everything," she exclaimed, pulling back and patting her cheek.

"Oh, are these the new campers you told me about?" Annabeth nodded. "Well then, why don't you all come in and warm up. Dinner's almost ready so we can get acquainted while we wait. Come along," she said, and ushered them in. Piper was really unsure about accepting her invitation. She had learned that in the mythological world, if a nice lady that smelled like chocolate and candy offered you dinner and a place to warm up after walking around in the rain, it usually meant that she was evil. But Annabeth seemed to have no problem with her, and she as an expert at these kind of things, so Piper followed her in. The apartment was decorated and blues and dark browns and gave off a very comforting vibe. It smelled delicious, like baking bread and whatever she was making for dinner. Leo immediately made himself at home. He had thrown himself down on the couch and was snacking on blue jellybeans from a bowl on the coffee table. Jason joined him and Annabeth left the room, walking into the kitchen. Piper was about to follow her when she noticed the pictures that were spread around the room. There were pictures of a tan, black hair, green eyes boy at various stages throughout his life. But that's not what Piper found weird. What Piper found weird was that she had seen that boy before, or at least she had in pictures. It was Percy Jackson, Annabeth's missing boyfriend and camp leader. She reached out to touch a photo that had a frame that said "Family" and held a picture of Percy, Thalia, and Nico when the woman came to stand behind her.

"Adorable, aren't they? It's hard to believe that this picture was taken only a few months ago, so much has changed since then," she said sighing. Piper looked at her. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, but she looked tired, kind of like Annabeth, only worse. Like she would cry if you pushed her too hard. With a pang, Piper realized who she was.

"You're Percy's mother, aren't you?" Piper breathed. The woman nodded.

"Yes, that's me, though I generally prefer to be called Sally." She said, and gave Piper a small smile. "But you can call me Auntie Sally, sweetie," she added, looking at Jason, who blushed. Piper felt awful. She had never thought that Percy would have a mother, she figured that Sally would be dead, just like all the other mothers of the big three demi gods. But she was alive, and her son was missing and no one probably filled her in on a lot of things because she was a mortal. Piper thought it was a horrible thing, and she almost wished that she were dead, just so that she wouldn't have to experience this. Piper had always thought that what Annabeth was going through was bad, but what Sally was going through must have been unimaginable. Piper felt even worse than she had when her father was kidnapped. She suddenly really wanted to hug Sally, it must have been the Aphrodite side of her, and she did.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, and Sally hugged her back.

"For what? It's not your fault, and it's not Jason or Leo's fault. Percy's a hero, I lost him to the world of the gods a long time ago. In fact, I don't think I've ever had him."

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After a dinner, Sally and the four demi gods settled down in the living room to watch the news. Sally told Piper that she didn't watch the news to find out about what was going on, but rather to find out if mass chaos or destruction had occurred. When Leo asked why, she told him that ninety five percent of the time, it was Percy's fault, so watching the news was like Percy tracking. Piper really liked Sally. She was sweet and motherly and reminded Piper of the mother she had always wanted. Even Jason wasn't acting as Roman as usual. The best thing about her, though, was that she didn't hold a grudge. Unlike Annabeth and everyone else at camp, she didn't blame Jason for Percy's disappearance. In fact, she even told Annabeth that she had to be nicer to everyone, that they were all trying their hardest and she had to be supportive. Piper had expected her to put up a fight, but she agreed and said she would try. Piper also found out that Annabeth had been visiting Sally all those times she left camp for the day, which made her feel guilty because just earlier that day, she had been judging Annabeth for abandoning the camp when in reality, she was comforting and informing Percy's mother. When the demi gods were finally ready to go back to camp, it was midnight. They were promising to come back for another visit soon when the phone started to ring, which was odd considering the time.

"It's probably just Paul calling to say good night. He's in Settle at a teacher's expo, so the time difference is weird," Sally said. "I'll call him once you guys leave." They were about to walk out the door when the message started.

"_Mom,_" the voice said, and Annabeth and Sally froze, going pale. The other three just stood there in shock.

"_Hey, I'm alive. Hera put me to sleep for awhile, and then she took my memory and…_" he continued. Sally had tears streaming down her face and Piper thought that Annabeth was going to faint. "_Anyway, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I'm on a quest-_" he broke off, like he knew Sally would freak once she heard that. "I_'ll make it home. I promise. Love you._" The message ended and Sally and Annabeth both ran towards the phone, desperately trying to call the number back. But it was too late. Percy had called with a payphone and was gone.

"He's okay, he's going to be okay!" Annabeth said, smiling like a maniac and gripping the phone. Sally nodded.

"I can't believe he went through all the trouble to call. I can't believe he's alive. My baby boy!" She cried.

"We have to tell camp! This is great! He remembers!" Annabeth was jumping for joy now, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, but Piper knew she wouldn't cry. Annabeth was a leader, and leaders don't cry in front of their forces. Sally and Annabeth hugged, Piper could hardly hear what they were saying anymore. But she knew one thing: that they were going to help Percy kept his promise and get home safe. Not just for Annabeth and for camp, but for his mother.

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**Well? Liked it, hated it? Review anyways! Thanks for reading! All italized words in the quotes are property of Rick Riordan. **


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